Twenty year old Lulu Ferris visits her grandmother, Louise, to discuss her love life -Lulu, already engaged to be married, has suddenly fallen in love with a man some years older than she. Louise contemplates the problem by reflecting on her own past and the two loves she experienced. She also ponders her relationship with her two sisters and the effect of war on families.

Set in Ottawa, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Vancouver, B.C., the story covers 70 years beginning from the outset of the First World War to the present (the 80s where Lulu's dilemma may or may not be resolved).